1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a device for sealingly mounting a tube which passes through the wall of a vessel. The invention has particular utility for enabling glass or quartz circular tubes to be used in a pressurized reaction vessel for free radical chlorination, these tubes having the function of carrying ultraviolet (U.V.) emitters.
2. Description of the Prior Art
Industrial processes which use photochemical reaction vessels are, for example, disclosed in European Patent No. 128,818 as well as in U.S. Pat. 4,689,130. Also, U.S. Pat. No. 3,998,477 discloses a general device for fixing a tube onto a nozzle of a vessel. That device, which is particularly suited for fixing a quartz tube containing a U.V. emitter onto a photochlorination reaction vessel allows, for example, quartz tubes of a diameter 60 mm and a length 3 m to be used in a reaction vessel for the synthesis of chloromethanes working at a pressure of 15 bar. That device enables a quartz tube to be sealingly mounted, i.e., fixed impermeably, while allowing the tube to move slightly. If there is significant turbulence in the reaction vessel or if the tubes are very long, rupturing of the tubes may occur, or bending thereof if the tube is made of steel, and the resulting stresses often lead to permanent deformation of ring seals located at the end of the tube outside the reaction vessel, and lip seals located intermediate the ring seals and vessel.
The applicant has now devised a new way of sealingly mounting a tube passing through the wall of a vessel which can withstand significant mechanical stresses acting on the tube by turbulent fluid and/or pressure within the vessel.